AC Milan are hoping that Rafael Leao’s injury has healed so he can play against Atalanta, but the chances of him starting are reportedly quite low.
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According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) this morning, between today and tomorrow Leao will undergo a new MRI scan on his right hamstring. If the injury that he sustained on November 11th in Lecce is healed, then he will have Atalanta on Saturday in Bergamo in his sights.
Immediately after that comes the away match against Newcastle on Wednesday 13 December, the last and decisive game of the Champions League group stages. Having missed the games against Fiorentina, Borussia Dortmund and Frosinone, Stefano Pioli wants his No.10 back.
The fact is that the green light will only be activated after checks in the next few hours, checks which a week ago had led to the postponement of Leao’s return to training, although everything was proceeding smoothly.
If from the new tests it emerges that the Portuguese striker’s thigh is clinically healed, we will be able to move on to phase two which is his return to group training. He will begin with an individual session in the middle of the week on the field, then it will intensify up to training with his team-mates.
On Saturday, at 18:00 CET, Milan will look for their third consecutive league win away against Atalanta. In the event that Leao can return to training in the next few days, the most likely scenario remains starting on the bench and coming on in the second half.
However, that would set him up to start in the Champions League in Newcastle, when Milan will need to be at their best to try to force a miraculous passage to the round of 16.
